Jean-Claude Juncker has suggested that Britain could still be in the bloc for May's European elections.

The European Commission president Juncker said he could not rule out an extension to the Article 50 process resulting in the UK participating in the European Parliament vote.

But, arriving in Brussels for a meeting with fellow ministers, Lord Callanan insisted Theresa May had been clear that the March 29 deadline remained.

The prime minister has reportedly come under pressure from Cabinet ministers to seek an extension to Article 50 to avoid the UK crashing out of the European Union without a deal.

Juncker said no-one on the EU side would oppose an extension to Article 50 which kept the UK in the bloc.

On the prospect of the UK electing MEPs to the new parliament, he told German newspaper Stuttgarter Zeitung that such a scenario was “difficult to imagine”, saying it would be a “belated joke of history” but he did not rule it out.

But Lord Callanan said: “The prime minister has been very clear that we intend to leave on March 29, that’s what Article 50 says and that’s what our domestic legislation says.”

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